The big moments – her birth, first word, first smile, first day of school, losing that first tooth, first time riding her bike, saying “I Love You,” stand out in time. These rights of passage play over and over in my memory as the playbook of her life.

But it’s the little moments that make her Madeleine.

The time she thought the leprechaun potion had shrunk her

The way she sings in the shower with true abandon

Her child-like giggle

The way she lives out the stories she reads and sees. Go to a movie with her and bring some tissues!

Her incredibly kind spirit, especially with children

The time she lost her ring and we looked everywhere for such a long time. It was the end of the world until she found it was in her pocket all the time

Her new habit of translating everything she thinks, hears and sees from English into French

The music that explodes from her in song form via guitar, drum, piano and rickety chop sticks

Her sudden tempers that melt into tears and really all-too-many “I’m sorries.”

Oh so polite and yet suddenly unrefined in just the way teens tend to be

The creative touches she has with everything she does – with notes, homework assignments – she’s a cartoonist, poet, doodler, song-writer

Imagine this: a flat tire the very first time she drove with her learner’s permit

Nerd to her core, she embraces her Dr. Who, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

She loves color – she doesn’t even realize she must own 7 orange shirts and her day-glo orange shoes and backpack help me pick her out in any crowd

Dauntingly positive – “We can do it, Mom! Who cares what other people think?”

Despite their sibling jabs, she really loves being a big sister and would take on any bully to protect The Mo

The way her hugs go on and on

How she worries about her friends and is willing to carry their problems for them

Her 1000-watt smile that lights up the room

Madeleine’s smarter than most, (I know, I’m her mom, but it’s simply true) she’s got big dreams and though I wish time would slow down because I want to savor every quirk and ancillary anecdote I also am excited to see what she’ll be, do and think as she finishes adolescence and explodes into young adult.